CDC-USA: Suicide in the midst of a pandemic despite reduced stress |

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Suicides have dropped in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the latest figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is despite the fact that the pandemic and the restrictive measures imposed because of it have led to an increase in psychological stress in many people, which was expected to lead to an increase in suicides, rather than a decrease.

The pandemic exacerbated various risk factors for suicide, such as loneliness, substance abuse and financial hardship, yet in 2020 there were approximately 46,000 suicide deaths in the US, down 3% from almost 48,000 in 2019. Suicides of men fell by 2% last year and women by 8%.

University of California-San Diego psychiatrist Brandon Nihter estimated that one possible explanation for these reductions is that they reflect a “joining force” phenomenon that can occur in times of national crisis, when social cohesion increases and communities come closer. close”.

The new data from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics, according to CNN and the UPI agency, are based on preliminary data based on 99% of all 2020 deaths and may eventually show some variation, e.g. because sometimes suicidal deaths are reported late. However, despite their decline, suicides remain the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. The suicides of 2020 were lower than those of 2017, 2018 and 2019, but higher than all previous years, so they continue to move at relatively high levels.

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